


Restorations

by Deleaf



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Male Friendship, One Shot, Personal Growth, Post-The Blood of Olympus (Heroes of Olympus)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-22
Updated: 2019-12-22
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:08:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21904984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Deleaf/pseuds/Deleaf
Summary: After Nico's confession in BOO, he and Percy have a chat.
Relationships: Nico di Angelo & Percy Jackson
Comments: 3
Kudos: 65





	Restorations

Annabeth had talked me into it.

We were on the beach, enjoying the summer breeze, and, in my case, being with my natural element. It was times like this where I felt most at peace. With Annabeth. Under the sun and next to the waves. Kids laughed, played, and slightly dismembered each other behind us. The brotherly feeling that had grown inside me for each of them these past few years only seemed to make this conversation more difficult. I didn’t like the idea of having to have a conversation like this with anyone--including Nico.

“Maybe you should talk to him,” Annabeth said. Her voice was soft but I recognized the undertone that said it really wasn’t a choice.

“Yeah, maybe,” I responded without much commitment.

Annabeth just looked at me. Her grey eyes seemed to know how to prod into me. I knew her long enough at this point to understand her looks...mostly. This one either said _you’re going even if I have to drag you there_ or I had a math equation scrawled across my forehead she couldn’t figure out. I decided it was the first one.

I tore my gaze away from her and focused on the sounds of naiads in the distance. Recently they had found out about the abundance of mermaids in the media and were demanding fair representation. I knew better than to get involved in what looked like a messy fight, but right now that seemed better than talking to the son of Hades like Annabeth was suggesting. Annabeth had been helping me decode Nico’s words for the past couple hours, interspersed by strolls throughout camp, talking to friends we hadn’t seen in months and breaking up one argument between an Apollo camper and a very disgruntled legionnaire. The only casualties were a couple bruises and some badly spoken rhyming couplets by the legionnaire--courtesy of the Apollo camper’s temper.

Of course, it would seem I had bigger fish to fry than a brief spat.

“Do you really think I need to? He said we’re cool. And you saw how Will whisked him off to the infirmary. He probably needs his rest or something.” It was basically a summation of my argument on the subject.

Annabeth sighed. “Maybe you don’t _need_ to, but you told me you wanted to treat your friends better and guess what? Nico’s your friend. With all that gaping you did back there, your conversation’s not finished. So go over there and tell him you support him. Otherwise...no kisses for the rest of the day.”

I stared at her for a moment. “But...what do I say?!” I protested.

“Well, for starters, you could ask him how he’s doing at camp. Ask if he’s going to the campfire. Just talk to him, Percy! It doesn’t even have to be about his confession. You can’t avoid him for the rest of the summer--you know that won’t end well.” She had that look in her eyes like she had won the argument. Or maybe just solved the math problem written across my forehead.

I also knew she won, though. I didn’t have much of a choice and it was better to do this now than after a great deal of procrastination (though a great deal of procrastination is one of my strong suits).

“Fine.”

Which is how I ended up standing at the door of the infirmary, one hand resting on the doorknob.

It was fine until someone opened the door from the other side.

Will Solace immediately dropped all the miscellaneous bandages he was carrying the moment he came face to face with my face.

He cursed and bent to pick them up, and I too bent down to help him.

“Sorry,” I said while re-rolling a bandage roll. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“Hey, it’s all right. Happens to me all the time... and it’s not like we don’t share custody of the blame.” He flashed me a quick smile, and I caught sight of the bags under his eyes.

“Yeah, but I was kind of hanging out in front of the door for a while.” I cursed myself inwardly the moment the words left my mouth.

“Oh?” Will looked curious. His searching Blue eyes made me nervous. “Business or pleasure? ‘Cause if your here for medical reasons we have a private conference room and all the Apollo campers know to keep their mouths shut about anything we hear--or see for that matter--so there really is no reason to be nervous. And you can always talk to Chiron if that--”

“No!” I cried. “Not like that!” I exhaled. I always had a soft spot for the son of Apollo after he saved Annabeth from her wound back in the Titan War. But clearly, Will could also get a little too into the medicine. “I’m actually here to visit someone.”

At this point Will had all the bandages back in his arms and he was examining them carefully before his eyes darted back up to meet mine. “Well then,” he flashed another of his signature grins. “Pleasure it is! Might I inquire whom you’ve chosen to visit? Some patients it’s better if I see if their sleeping or not before I let you in.”

At this point we were in the infirmary, so my nose was flooded with the smells of disinfectant and ambrosia. Will dropped the bandages on a side table and was looking at them with disappointment.

“Are they salvageable?” I asked.

“Not for medical purposes, no. But the Hephaestus cabin sometimes likes them as rags or for better grip. And, of course the Demeter cabin sometimes likes to make little bags from them for seed...and there was that one halloween where a few Aphrodite kids went as scantily-clad mummies...anyway, who did you want to see?” Will, again, smiled at me. His eyebrows were raised slightly.

“Ah, Nico di Angelo, the son of Hades. I thought I saw him go here? Or, I guess he might be back at his cabin by now…”

Will looked somewhat surprised, but I thought I also saw something that looked like happiness? Pride? I couldn’t tell.

“He’s here--or he should be if he hasn’t slipped off while I wasn’t looking. Just let me see if he’s asleep.” Will took long strides to the back of the infirmary and disappeared behind a curtain. I had just enough time to wonder if disappearing sons of Hades was a common problem, and if checking to see if someone is sleeping was a euphemism for checking if they want to see you, when Will came out and took they same long strides back. He wasn’t much taller than me, but he walked like he was. “He can see you--it’s right at the back on your left.” He smiled one more time before turning to his bandage project.

And so I was thrust into the belly of the whale.

The campers and legionnaires I had past by all either nodded at me and glanced in a absent stare. They reminded me of the dead eyed-looks some of the New York pedestrians gave you if you came too close. I couldn’t tell if it was for medical reasons or they were just guarded after the battle. But it was nice to see the campers I hadn’t seen since before the battle. An Aphrodite camper with her leg propped up even gave me a little wave. Most of them kept their curtains open, but Nico’s was shut tight and I had a feeling it wasn’t out of Will’s wishes.

When I opened it, I saw the son of Hades was cross-legged on his cot calmly organising a box of bandages. He looked almost restful here, but I had been a demigod long enough to know when someone was tense and Nico was more so than normal, even for him.

 _He’s nervous_ , I realized, _probably more scared than I am_. The thought was oddly calming. He now reminded me of a young camper or a sea-creature that had gotten stuck somewhere. And those things I could deal with.

“So,” I said, sitting down on the chair beside his bed. “Um, what’s up?”

He blinked at me. “‘What’s up’? _That_ is the best you can do?”

“Hey, I’m not good at this!” I protested. “Besides, I’m all riled up after I knocked down Will’s stuff on the way here. He even vaguely threatened me with doctor-talk.” In all fairness, Will’s words weren’t exactly threats per se, but Nico relaxed slightly and even flickered a brief smile at the thought of me making Will spill his things. I wondered what was up with the two of them.

“What was he carrying?” he asked in a nonchalant tone.

“A handful of bandages, why?”

He glanced at the box on the bed and sighed. I realized they were the same kind Will was carrying. “I had just cut those up,” he muttered under his breath, but I caught the words.

“Sorry,” I said. “Why are you working in the infirmary anyway--and for that matter, why are you here now?” Perhaps I was being nosy, but it was a little odd that Will personally grabbed Nico here so long after the war, and, well, it was bothering me.

“Will dragged me here. Something about not trusting me not to use my powers and thus not to ‘melt into a puddle of darkness’. And as so far as the bandages are concerned: I got bored. Sue me, I’m going to be here for three days and while the curtains are a very nice shade I’d go mad without something to do.”

Nico was usually a fairly still and quiet person, but it wasn’t a far-flung guess to wonder if he was ADHD like most of us.

However, that wasn’t my primary concern. “I’m sorry, melt into darkness? What happened?”

He waved the question aside. “Just a side-effect of the shadow travelling. Will’s just paranoid.” He didn’t look too worried but I was coming to the realization that that didn’t mean _I_ shouldn’t in his case.

I also realized that that was one of the longest I’ve heard the son of Hades talk outside of discussion of a battle or quest. For that matter, I didn’t _have_ many conversations with the guy outside of those frames...or in general.

“How are you liking camp?” I asked, changing the subject because I didn’t want to irritate the guy today.

“‘S’alright. Hazel’s leaving soon along with the Roman legion, so...yeah. Alright. How are you?”. He had a slight frown on, as if the concept of small talk was foreign 

“Fine. Yeah. Good.” I nodded. I suppose to show how fine-yeah-good I was. “Hopefully they’ll visit us and visa-versa.”

“Do you think the centurions will get time off? And praetors for that matter?” He tilted his head so his long hair moved over his shoulder. He needed a haircut. But, I was probably not one to judge.

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “But the romans have a good system. I’m sure they could get someone to fill any vacancy.”

“Including Reyna and Frank?” he wondered aloud, and admittedly I was thinking the same thing. “They could probably fill for each other I suppose. Just not right after the war, probably.”

“Yeah. It’s a shame. I was thinking we could have regular _Argo II_ reunions.”

“You still can,” he pointed out, though he raised his eyebrows at the idea. “Just not with everybody at the same time. Sounds like fun, though. I’m sure you guys will enjoy it.” He sounded almost wistful. Like that time he appeared on my balcony on my fifteenth birthday and saw my birthday cake.

“You can come too, y’know,” I said softly.

He looked genuinely surprised. “Thank you, but I wouldn’t want to intrude.” He picked at a bandage, which I wasn’t sure would make Will happy.

“No. You should. You flew with us. You lead the team to the House of Hades and took the Athena Parthenos back to camp. You’re just as much a part of the crew as anybody else.” I was suddenly very sure of myself. I remember being attacked by the _arai_ back in Tartarus and all the people I had let down. I wasn’t making the same mistake again.

“I didn’t fight with you against the giants. I’m not a part of the seven.” He argued back. He seemed unnerved by my position on the matter.

“Well, neither are Coach Hedge and Reyna and we wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for them.”

“Well, that’s different!”

“Why?”

“Because...I...um.” he sighed. “I’m busy.” He and I both knew he was losing this battle.

“That’s a load of centaur poop and you know it.” I sat back in my chair. “Are you this self-conscious because of the whole Hades thing or is it because you like…?” I didn’t finish the sentence. To be honest, I was surprised I even got into the subject. I figured it was Annabeth’s not-so-subtle influence.

He looked down at the bandage in his hand, which now had a little tear in it. I was surprised he answered. “I guess it was partly because I’m...y’know.” his voice was quiet. Even quieter than ours had been before, when we were trying not disturb the other patients.

“You can’t say the word can you? Or are you just unsure what exactly you are.” My volume had matched to his.

He glanced at the curtain and bit his lip. “I’m sure...I just--I’ll get there, okay?”

Maybe it was that confidence in his voice or the way he confessed to me earlier, but I believed him. In fact, I was almost certain he was going to be fine. Well, as fine as a demigod could be in his position.

“Well, if anyone gives you trouble, I got your back.” I stood up from my chair.

He snorted. “I still got my sword even if I can’t use my powers. Bet I could even give you a run for your money.”

“Wanna bet? Once you’re out of here I’ll see you at the combat pavilion...after we get you another shirt that is.”

He looked down at the tropical tee he had been wearing since before the battle and nodded. We shook on it.

As I walked back outside, I saw Will putting a cast on the Apollo camper that got into the spat with the roman legionnaire. Distantly I thought I heard two campers talking about the _My Little Mermaid_ in terms of the naiad population. Yeah, we were all going to be alright.

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't read TTT, so please no spoilers if you do leave a comment!


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